


Four times Cas and Dean tried to impress the same girl and the one time they didn’t

by PilDoor



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 5 Times, Alternate Universe - College/University, Frat Boy Dean, M/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 04:08:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12203583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PilDoor/pseuds/PilDoor
Summary: He drags the fork out between his lips and Castiel doesn’t look at them. It’s just that Dean has a little bit of powdered sugar in one corner of his mouth, and he’s gifted with really great genes. But he’s not staring.“Fuck, Cas,” Dean exclaims, effectively bringing Cas out of his reverie of not looking at his lips, “That’s some good fucking pie.”He barely catches Meg’s “Yeah, good job, Clarence,” because he is too busynotblushing.A second into awkwardness he turns to Meg and smiles, “I’m glad you like it.” He somehow meets Dean’s eyes as he says it. Maybe because Dean seems to enjoy it more.Meg excuses her self to go smoke a cigarette and Dean compliments the cinnamon-to-sugar ratio.





	Four times Cas and Dean tried to impress the same girl and the one time they didn’t

**Author's Note:**

  * For [staunchlyblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/staunchlyblue/gifts).



> A pinterest prompt presented to me by [Staunchlyblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/staunchlyblue/pseuds/staunchlyblue):
> 
>  
> 
> _Okay, so the idea is that Castiel and Dean are in competition to win over the same girl, and are going to increasingly grand lengths when they realise they are more into impressing each other than actually getting the girl and ride off into the sunset together_
> 
>  
> 
> It's not totally what happened here but it's the best I could do :)

1.

Castiel catches sight of Meg as she enters the Starbuck’s right as he’s ordering.

Her bouncy hair is partly covered by a pair of fuzzy earmuffs and she has one of her girlfriends in tow. They shake snowflakes out of their curls and stomp them off their boots. Meg’s hair is curlier and darker than usual with the moisture from the snow and her pale skin looks luminous in contrast. 

Castiel has never really been interested in girls, but Meg has been different since the very first day of their ancient history class. 

Meg is one of those cool girls. She smokes and listens to loud music in the library and she wears dark lip colors that make her look demonic, which Castiel believes to be the point. She kicked the star quarterback in the groin for breaking her best friend’s heart. She’s a badass. But she always smiles at Castiel, even though he wears a trench coat and majors in history, and hasn’t even seen the _first_ Guardians of the Galaxy, i.e. isn’t at all cool.

He knows she knows who he is, and he really does think he might have a chance if that darn frat boy to Dean freaking Winchester would just lay off. He isn’t even cool either, in spite of the frat bro status. He seems cool, with the backwards caps and constant minimum of three accompanying friends, but Cas knows better. He’s just a dork. And his lips are too full. Lashes too long. He’s too pretty to be attractive, that’s why Castiel stares. It’s not because of flattering sweatpants on bowlegs or the sharp cheekbones.

Dean has a weird habit of being where Castiel is, and they both happen to cross paths with Meg quite a few times on an average day as well. They all lunch around the same time in on-campus cafeteria between the humanities and engineering buildings, they use the same areas in the library, they even work out at the same goddamn hours; Castiel firmly on a treadmill and Dean stationed in the weightlifting area. Meg usually just stretches for 10 minutes while gossiping on the phone with a girlfriend before she’s out of there again.

Castiel knows Dean studies some sort of engineering and that he’s apparently wicked smart, and that he’s a member of the abomination that is delta kappa psi. Oh, and that his daily schedule outside classes happens to be all but identical to Castiel’s.

But for once, Dean is nowhere in sight and Castiel can make his move.

Castiel smiles subtly to himself. He does have a class to attend and doesn’t actually have time to try and get Meg’s number right now, but he can leave an impressions that’s somewhat better than bickering with Dean (which, embarrassingly, is what tends to happen).

“I’ll have a tall Americano,” Castiel orders and hands the cashier a twenty-dollar bill, “And please let me pay for the next person in line.”

“Someone’s in Holiday spirit,” the cashier smiles and takes the twenty. It’s 11 in the morning and there’s no rush so the barrista makes his coffee right away and hands it over to him.

Castiel just smiles and gets his cardboard cup. 

It isn’t till he turns that he sees that the next person in line _isn’t_ Meg. It’s Dean freaking Winchester and he doesn’t even notice Castiel, too preoccupied with checking his student email. 

Castiel just flees but Dean makes his order and is told it’s already been paid for before Cas can make it out the door, and Dean looks up to see what beneficial stranger granted him free coffee. He’s smiling until he sees it’s Cas and then his expression folds into one of confusion. He lifts his cup of black coffee in salute or maybe a thank you. Castiel just leaves, trying to cover his blushing cheeks with his home-knitted scarf.

 

2.

Dean is hanging posters in the cafeteria when he hears them. He hears Castiel first, actually, that unmistakingly low rumble of his disrupting Dean’s line of thought.

Meg laughs, low and smoky, at whatever he said. They’re standing in line together, sandwiches and drinks in hand while waiting to pay. Dean figures he could use some sustenance too, so he goes for the coffee machine and pours himself a cup of shitty coffee while they pay and then Meg spots him.

“Winchester! What are you doing here?” she asks, grinning so her sharp canines show against her dark purple lips.

Dean turns a dazzling smile at her, “Just taking a break. I’m on poster duty today.”

Meg arches a dark eyebrow in vague interest.

“We’re having a movie marathon night. Benny got this projector he’s gonna set up and we’re gonna make pillow forts,” he holds one of the papers out to Meg, “You should stop by. There’ll be elaborate drinking games.”

Castiel is done paying then and grabs the poster from Dean’s hand, squinting down at it, “Lord of the Rings?”

Dean gives a, “Yeah, obviously,” before smiling at Meg again. Castiel is a dorky history major, who, frankly, Dean had counted on being as queer as a three dollar bill. They'd taken a humanities credit together last semester, and the kid is apparently some gifted boy wonder with a really nice build.

“Seems for a quite dorky Saturday night for a fraternity,” Castiel notes and Dean glares.

“Shut up. You probably spend your Saturday nights in the lab anyway, nerd,” he responds with any heat to it.

Castiel rolls his eyes, “I’m a _history_ major. There are no labs. But time spent in the library is better than spending valuable educational years playing beer pong in a house full of dudes.”

Before Dean can retaliate, Meg steps in:

“Boys, be nice,” she notes absentmindedly and looks over Cas’ arm at the poster before shrugging, “Might be fun.”

Dean grins, he _told_ Benny this thing would be a hit. And Meg showing interest in shit like this, is almost like sealing the deal. Or like the first seal. He still doesn’t even have her number. “So you’ll come? Maybe you should give me your number so I can let you know what time.”

“Sure thing, handsome,” she grins darkly, like she can see completely through Dean, which she probably can. But it’s part of the game, and the fact she accepted means she’s playing. Dean does a mental victory fist. She grabs his phone when he holds it out to her and codes her contact info in before she looks up at Castiel, “You’ll come too, right, Clarence?”

Castiel and Dean make eye contact, equally surprised. Dean can't believe how he just can't shake what the dark hair/blue eyes combo does to him. He's not supposed to have a _type_ , and even if he did it shouldn't include dorky know-it-all history majors. Castiel looks like he’s waiting for some kind of permission so Dean shrugs and gives him a half smile, “Yeah, come by. There’ll be beer and popcorn.”

“Uhm,” Castiel clears his throat, “Alright. Do you need my number too, or?” he asks hesitantly.

Dean gives him his phone, “Yeah. We haven’t set the time yet but I think we’re gonna make a Facebook event. I’ll just text you the details.”

Castiel nods silently when he hands Dean his phone back and Dean smiles at him, so Castiel just smiles back and no one is saying anything; Meg is just standing there, staring up at them with a knowing smile on her face before she interrupts the moment.

“Well, I’m out of here, loverboys. See ya this weekend,” she grins at them while she walks backwards towards the exit where her friends usually hang out near the smoking area.

Dean rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, “See ya,” he mumbles at Meg and Castiel mumbles something similar, fiddling with the edge of his sandwich packaging.

Dean runs a hand over the posters, neating up the pile, “So, uh… You a fan?”

“Hm?” Castiel looks up at him. Dean never really realized that Cas is about the same height as him. And his hair looks very soft. Useless information anyway, he reminds himself. It’s Meg’s physique he cares about.

“Of Tolkien? You’re a self-proclaimed nerd, you must have read the books,” Dean grins teasingly.

Castiel smiles shyly back and shakes his head, “I haven’t, actually. I did see the Hobbit with my brother when it came out though.”

Dean looks mock-offended, “Dude, you have to read them. I have them in my room, we could go grab ‘em real quick, if you’re not busy?”

Castiel looks surprised at Dean’s offer that’s really more of a demand, and Dean flushes. Before he can take anything back though, Castiel nods.

“I have a little time.”

-

Cas returns a short hour later with a stack of books and an unopened text from Dean that reads, “Thanks for the coffee btw ”

 

3.

Anna somehow gets Castiel roped into going to Taco Tuesday. It’s not terrible, there are tacos after all, and margaritas, but Castiel wants to read up on that test next week and he really doesn’t want to sit in a booth with a bunch of his sister’s friends he doesn’t know in a crowded bar that only plays ‘Despacito’.

Especially not when Dean and Meg are standing at the bar, leaning heavily into each other’s space, Dean grinning around a wedge of a tequila-accessorized lemon. Meg is giggling up at Dean. Castiel chews his taco more forcefully as he glares.

His angry taco-eating is interrupted by Anna elbowing him in the side, “Let me out! I see someone I know! And we need more margaritas!” she squeals and Castiel barely has time to move before she has stood up and stepped behind him on the booth seat.

Now he’s left alone in a booth with four of Anna’s cutesy, overbearing girlfriends and he angrily stirs the guac next to him. He should just leave now while she’s too distracted to stop him. He finishes off the last of his taco and scoots out of the booth.

He goes to the bar because he can’t let Dean get ahead, and he leans next to Meg, “Hello.”

“Cas!” Dean exclaims in surprise, dropping a lemon peel on the floor.

“Clarence, hey. Wanna do shots?” Meg smirks at him.

There are four empty shot glasses lined up next to a little bowl of salt and a stack of lemon wedges. Even if Dean is a day-drinking frat boy, Cas refuses to be the boring goody-two shoes right now.

“I do,” he confirms and waves down the bartender.

“Six shots,” Meg orders from the bartender, and then looks at Cas and Dean, “Two each.”

“Eight, please,” Castiel says to the woman behind the bar and then explains to Meg and Dean, “I’m two behind, right?”

Dean barks out a laugh at that and Meg smirks. The bartender finds empty glasses and looks at Dean while she pours, “You’re not driving tonight, are you?”

“’Course not, Ellen,” Dean promises her.

Castiel thinks it must be testament to how much Dean goes out that not only is he on first-name basis with the bartender but they also show concern for him.

“Is it a split bill?” the woman asks.

Dean hands over a card, “No, I’ll cover it.”

Castiel glares at him but tries not to because the man did just buy his drinks, but Castiel could have paid. He’ll buy the next round.

“Let’s try again,” Dean says to Meg, and they clank their glasses together, clank them against the bar, their stools, before tapping the bottom of the glass to the toe of their boots, and finally lace their arms with each other’s and does the shot.

Castiel is left staring dumbfounded and does his shot bitterly and without fanfare while they chew on the lemons. He doesn't watch as Dean stick out his tongue to wet a patch of skin on his hand as he prepares for the next shot.

“That was better!” Meg exclaims after throwing the citrus on the bar.

Dean chuckles, “You’re getting the hang of it.”

Meg giggles and grabs Dean’s bicep while she leans into him. Castiel has to act.

“Lets play a drinking game!” he suggests a little too eagerly but he doesn’t even care. Dean is doing too well.

“You’re still a little behind there, Clarence,” Meg nods at three shots lined up at Cas’ elbow. Cas turns to them and, one after one, he downs them, not pausing for salt or citrus even once.

Meg laughs out loud with her smoky voice and Dean looks all proud.

“Damn, Cas,” Dean says and leans around Meg to clap him on the shoulder but hesitates at the last minute and withdraws after a soft pat. He clears his throat, “How about you guys find a table somewhere? I’ll buy some drinks.”

“Okay!” Meg bounces off.

Castiel stays, “I believe this round is on me.”

Dean waves him off, “No, no. You can buy the next pitcher.”

“Fine,” Castiel agrees reluctantly and saunters after Meg.

Dean comes over with a pitcher of margarita and three plastic tumblers that are supposed to fit the Taco Tuesday aesthetic in some in-explainable way. There’s an umbrella in the pitcher. Dean suggests some drinking games but Meg and Castiel don’t want to play a frat drinking game with a frat bro, and they end up playing a hybrid of some sort, because Castiel can’t remember all the rules and Meg also wants to mix truth or dare into the game.

In between the game and Castiel and Dean’s unspoken drinking competition they’re soon too drunk to keep up with the rules anyway, and the conversation starts flowing on it’s own.

“History?” Dean asks when Castiel tells him his major (again), and whistles, “Damn, that sounds dry.”

Castiel shrugs, “I find it interesting. My dad writes historic novels so I suppose I grew up with it.”

Dean nods, “Huh. Well I know you're like, wicked smart.”

Castiel flushes, “I-I uh…” he stammers before he remembers Meg is right there and he’s supposed to be impressing her, “I maintain a 4.0.” He changes direction before he can bring up the scholarships. He hates bragging. “You do engineering, right? Not a light subject either.”

Dean waves him off, “It’s just mechanical engineering. That’s like the easiest kind.” He winks at Meg with his next comment though, “I’m good with my hands.”

That comment has Castiel flushing yet again, and Meg leans across the table to look at Dean, “Are you now?” 

Dean smirks but instead of saying something that would’ve been bound to be creepy, he asks: “What’s your major?”

“Unclaimed,” she shrugs, “But I’m leaning towards the humanities. And I’ve taken a few law-relevant creds.”

“Really? My brother is gonna be a lawyer,” Dean tells them.

Castiel leans closer, “Is he in law school?”

Dean chuckles, “Oh no, he’s still in high school. But he’s gonna go to Stanford and become some big shot yuppie lawyer. He’s the brains of the family,” he says with a proud look in his eyes.

“Does that mean you got the looks?” he asks, and he must be drunk to ask that.

Dean smirks, “Hells yeah.”

Meg huffs next to Cas and he turns to her. “I’m going to the restroom,” she announces and takes off. 

“Do you have siblings?” Dean asks, continuing their conversation.

“Quite a few,” Castiel grins and then straightens up in his seat to look around him, “One of them is here tonight, actually. Anna!” he calls for her when he spots a couple of red braids.

Anna comes over and sits down next to Cas and steals a sip from his beer that he switched to after the last pitcher, and then looks up. A smile of familiarity spreads on her face when she sees Dean, “Dean!” she leans across the table to throw her arms around his neck.

“Hey, Anna,” he grins into her hair at her enthusiasm.

Anna leans back and smiles up at Cas, “Cas, this is Dean,” She introduces like Castiel wasn’t the one sitting here with him to begin with, “We went out last year. Cas is my little brother,” she tells the last part to Dean.

“Yeah, by three minutes!” Castiel protests. It’s reflex when she refers to him as the younger sibling. But then it sinks in and he looks up at Dean, “You two went out?”

“You two are twins?” Dean asks dumbfounded, and Castiel isn’t paying attention and just smiles awkwardly up at Dean. 

He can’t believe _Dean_ is Anna’s Dean, her frat boy ex. God, he’s heard too many stories. He even remembers accidentally opening a dick pic from the guy when he’d needed Anna’s phone for a second, and Castiel suddenly flushes red and accidentally looks down at Dean’s crotch, and Dean is grinning when he looks up and Castiel’s cheeks are actually on fire. He swipes a shot from his sister’s hand and downs it, eyes never wavering from Dean’s.

Dean’s grin widens.

“What are you two up to?” Anna asks.

Castiel realizes that him and Dean are almost having a gosh darn moment and he shakes himself out of it, “We’re here with Meg.”

Anna huffs a laugh, “Meg Masters? She left like half an hour ago.”

“I’m sorry?” Castiel asks. Hasn’t she only been gone for five minutes?

“Yeah, she left with her ex a while ago,” Anna giggles.

Dean puts his face in his hands and groans.

“Huh,” Castiel murmurs, “I suppose it might be time for me to head home as well.”

“Me too,” Dean agrees, “Need a ride?”

Castiel accepts the offer and they make way through the throng of people to the exit.

A shot girl in a tiny Taco Tuesday uniform stops Dean halfway through and hands him a shot, “You look like you could need a stiff one, handsome,” she grins.

Dean smirks back, “I could say the same to you.” 

The girl giggles obnoxiously, “You staying on campus for the holidays?” she asks and Dean confirms. “Call me if you get cold,” she says with a wink and saunters off.

Castiel gets unreasonably annoyed by the whole exchange which is _ridiculous_ , because Dean hooking up with this girl just means less competition for Meg.

But he can’t shake the feeling that has creeped its way up in tense shoulders and as a sourness in the back of his throat.

“You alright?” Dean asks, urging Cas to keep walking with a hand on his elbow. He passes the shot from the girl off to a buddy in the crowd, who yells something about how awesome ‘D-dawg’ is.

Castiel just nods and they make it outside. Dean texts his designated driver friend.

There’s some uncomfortable silence and Castiel really wants to say something. Ask who that girl was or why he’s staying on campus over the holidays, and since he is, does he maybe want to meet up with Cas? He asks none of that.

“You still coming this weekend?” Dean asks instead. 

“That’s the plan,” Castiel confirms and then a car honks at them and it turns out to be Dean’s friend and their ride, and it really just irritates Castiel further when the driver turns out to be another girl.

 

4.

 

Castiel isn’t sure how it happened but it looks like he won. 

He went up against Dean Winchester – frat boy hunk, wanted by half the campus – for a girl, and he _won_.

He’s pretty sure that’s what the text from Meg means anyway.

‘Your sister’s stupid sorority is hosting a couples’ cooking class. See you there? X’

It has the word ‘couple’ and it has a single kiss at the end. The only conclusion Castiel can come up with is that it must be a date. He grins at his phone. He wants to gloat to Dean.

He’ll do that the next time he sees him. Which is the movie marathon night this weekend. Should he still go to that? He has to return Dean’s books anyway. But Castiel hopes Dean will let him keep them a little longer. He’s about a third through the first one and it’s pretty awesome. 

The books are cracked at the paperback spine and half the pages have been dog-eared a dozen times. Castiel wonders how many times Dean has read them. He wonders what kind of connotations Dean has to the story. You don’t just read a book to destruction because of lyrics.

 

Castiel makes his way to Anna’s sorority house, definitely not trying to spy out Dean as he passes his fraternity on the way. He doesn’t see him.

The first person he sees is Anna, of course, who is the host of the evening’s event, “Cas! I didn’t know you were coming!” she kisses his cheek.

“Of course,” he mumbles, trying to search out Meg among the crowd, “Anything for charity.”

She squeals in excitement, “You’re the best!” then she turns to the room and claps her hands for attention, “It’s 7pm now so I think we’ll get started. First I want to thank you all for coming,” she drones on about the cause on this class that cost $5 to participate in. Sick puppies or something. Castiel is surprised Meg scoped this thing out.

Anna explains the evenings proceedings, “You’ll be split into a main course-group and a dessert-group, and when everything is done you can either stay at enjoy your creations with us, or you can take it home in Tupperware that can be purchased.”

Castiel stops paying attentions again and goes back to searching for Meg. He hears her hoarse giggle just in time for course-delegation, and he just has time to be relieved she’s there before he notices Dean next to Meg, as the source to her giggles. 

Everyone gets delegated to course-groups, and Castiel doesn’t pay attention but makes his way to Meg as soon as Anna stops talking.

“Hey,” he smiles at her.

“Clarence, you made it!” she smirks at him, “Dean and I are doing main course. What group did you get in?”

“Uh,” Castiel hesitates. He hadn’t actually been paying attention to that part.

Anna comes by and grabs his arm, “You’re in dessert, Cassie, come on. I’ll be your partner since you don’t have one,” she says right in front of Meg and Dean, completely embarrassing him.

Meg laughs at him but Dean just smiles, “What are you gonna make?” he asks, looking at Castiel.

Castiel shrugs, mood kind of destroyed at realizing he’d been invited on some threesome date by Meg and then ended up as the third wheel anyway. He wonders what Meg’s text to Dean must’ve included. Triple x’s perhaps?

“Pie!” Anna exclaims, “The holidays are right around the corner, after all.”

Meg smirks and quirks an eyebrow but Dean’s smile widens, “Awesome! Make it apple,” he winks at Cas and Cas frowns harder and stomps off towards the designated dessert set-up, contemplating pumpkin out of spite..

He tries to use some of his frustration to roll out the dough but when Meg laughs raucously at something Dean said _again_ he just wants to throw the rolling pin across the room. He grinds his teeth together as he shoots daggers at Dean who is rolling gnocchi. It was probably all his idea, inviting Meg who’d invite Cas, so he could look like a pathetic idiot third wheel.

“Cas, you’re rolling it way too thin! Give me that!” Anna screeches next to him and forcefully grabs the rolling pin out of Cas’ grip.

Before he can protest she points to a cutting board of the apples she just sliced, “Get started on the filling, please.” She says with no room for argument.

Castiel grumbles but does as he’s asked. Once the apples are sizzling in the pan and the aroma from the cinnamon spreads around him, he calms down a little. He doesn’t even hear Dean and Meg’s flirting anymore. He doesn’t hear Dean slide up next to him to lean his elbows on the counter, either. It isn’t until Dean is leaning over to look into the pan, and into Cas’ line of vision, that he notices him.

“Gah! What are you doing here?” Cas asks, nearly dropping the wooden spoon.

Dean grins, “It smells really good, Cas. I wish I’d gotten on the dessert team. I bet we would have killed this pie.”

Castiel frowns, “Don’t you have your own dish to finish?”

With a shrug Dean answers, “Gnocchi only need a few minutes. Meg’s making the sauce. Can I help you with something?”

“Uh, shouldn’t you be helping your partner?” Cas asks, hoping the bitterness he feels doesn’t translate in his voice. He’s annoyed Dean and Meg are coupling up to make food and he’s annoyed that Dean is over here, wasting valuable alone time with Meg. He doesn’t understand what he’s playing at. Maybe he already won and got a date. 

“She’s fine,” Dean says absentmindedly, “Can I make the lattice?” he moves over to the leftover dough and Cas finally notices that Anna has put the crust in the oven to pre-bake, and has left to mingle.

Dean messes around with the dough while goofing off like he always does, the dork. But it takes Cas’ mind off the Meg situation and by the time Anna comes back to scold Dean for having left his partner to do all the work, Cas is even smiling.

Soon after everything is done and everyone gathers around to try the different dishes. Castiel isn’t very hungry after all the apple slices he’s been sneaking but he tries some of Meg and Dean’s dish. 

Before he can compliment Meg on it, Dean comes up to him, “Where’s your pie? I’ve been looking forward to it all evening!”

Castiel rolls his eyes. He doesn’t understand the game Dean is playing tonight. He cuts both Dean and Meg a slice though. He tries to focus on Meg’s reaction, but somehow his eyes drift over to Dean who forks off the tip of the slice, inspects the bite for a second and then closes his lips around the bite. He drags the fork out between his lips and Castiel doesn’t look at them. It’s just that Dean has a little bit of powdered sugar in one corner of his mouth, and he’s gifted with really great genes. But he’s not staring. 

“Fuck, Cas,” Dean exclaims, effectively bringing Cas out of his reverie of _not_ looking at his lips, “That’s some good fucking pie.”

He barely catches Meg’s “Yeah, good job, Clarence,” because he is too busy _not_ blushing. 

A second into awkwardness he turns to Meg and smiles, “I’m glad you like it.” He somehow meets Dean’s eyes as he says it. Maybe because Dean seems to enjoy it more.

Meg excuses her self to go smoke a cigarette and Dean compliments the cinnamon-to-sugar ratio.

 

5.

Saturday and the Lord of the Rings marathon rolls around. Castiel steals some of his roommate’s gel to try and get his hair under control. He’s not sure if he looks better or not. One curl is very adamant about not cohering to the way he wants it to fall and he eventually gives up and just scowls at the mirror.

He makes his way to Meg’s dorm, where Dean has promised to pick them up. Meg is sitting on the step to the front door, smoking a cigarette. Cas sits down next to her.

“Hey Clarence. Who’re you all dolled up for?” Meg asks around her cigarette.

Castiel blushes, suddenly self-conscious, and runs his hands through his hair, wanting it to fall back the way it naturally does. 

It prompts a laugh out of Meg, “Oh, c’mon Cee. You looked cute. Very cookie-cutter.”

Castiel tries not to scowl. He hears the familiar rumble of Dean’s outrageous car and gets up suspiciously fast to avoid Meg’s teasing. 

Dean pulls up to the curve with the window open. He whistles as he gives Meg a once-over, and Castiel suddenly remembers his mission. He quickly extends a hand to help Meg to her feet.

He’s about to open the door to the front passenger seat for her when Dean beats him to it, opening the door from inside. But apparently with a different motive, “Hop in, Cas. You should be in front, you have longer legs.”

Cas exchanges a look with Meg, who just shrugs and flicks her cigarette out onto the street. 

They get in and everything smells like Dean’s cologne and leather. He gets so caught up in it that he loses points as Dean flirts up a storm with Meg. It doesn't really matter, because when they get to the frat house that Dean calls home, Meg instantly disappears to flirt with someone else. 

“Why’d you wear jeans?” Dean askes, sounding almost offended.

Castiel looks down at himself then back up at Dean, not sure how to reply.

Dean just rolls his eyes, “Dumbass. This is basically a big sleepover. Let’s go,” he orders and turns to walk upstairs and Cas nearly trips over the steps to catch up.

“I don’t have any more clean sweats, so I hope PJs is okay?” Dean asks, his head in a drawer. 

Cas frowns, still not all caught up. His eyes flit to Dean’s bottoms: a pair of light gray, soft-looking sweats that hang off his hips very nicely. If he would only turn around so Cas could see how it looked from the front. He shakes his head. That's not what he wants. He wants to know where Meg went.

“Uh, yeah. ‘s fine," he finally replies.

“Goody!” Dean says and presents a pair of soft, well-worn flannel pants to Castiel. He leaves to let Cas change in private.

Cas feels awkward while he pulls off his jeans, folds them and places them on Dean’s dresser. When did they become friends? Somewhere between the margaritas and the pie? Or was it before? The borrowed books, maybe?

He walks over to Dean’s bookshelf. It’s mostly textbooks, math and engineering; nothing Cas understands. He kneels down on the floor and pulls out the box of books that Dean got the Lord of the Rings series from that one time. He trails a finger over the many titles. Most of them are cracked paperbacks and Cas isn’t aware of the soft smile on his face until the sound of steps outside the door makes him freeze up. 

If it’s Dean coming back it’s going to look all kinds of weird that he’s helping himself to snoop around. If it’s _not_ Dean it’s going to look all kinds of worse. Stalker alert. He doesn’t breathe out until he hears the steps pass and make their way down the stairs. He pushes the box back under the bed and makes his way downstairs as well.

The main living room is one giant pillow fort. He can’t even imagine where they got all those pillows from.

He scopes it out, trying to find the least awkward place to sit that still offers a clear view of the canvas screen that has been set up for the event. Most people have already found a place, couples cuddled up in questionable positions and a low-key popcorn fight taking place in one corner.

He doesn’t see Dean anywhere until he comes up next to him with a six-pack of beer and a bottle of fireball. 

“Comfortable, eh?” he nods at the pants but doesn’t wait for a reply, “Let’s go sit down.” 

He trudges unashamed into the mass of people and pillows, tipping over a bowl and stepping on a hand as he goes. Cas follows but avoids catastrophes.

Dean sits down and pulls Cas with him, and it’s a tight fit but they manage. He finds a beer pushed into his hand, courtesy of Dean.

The movie starts and a drinking game starts with it, and Cas has a hard time keeping up. There are spoilers and shots and Cas has no idea how Dean ended up practically in his lap but there’s no space for him to move.

(He’s not sure he needs that space anyway).

The first movie ends and people spread out for pee breaks and cigarette breaks and some people pair off to go fool around. Cas stands up, not sure what to do with himself, and when he spots Meg he follows her outside.

She’s talking to a group of people and Cas doesn’t know any of them so he sits down on the curb instead. He follows her with his eyes as her and Alistair part from the bigger clique and he doesn’t even look away when Dean joins him, sitting next to him on the curb. When they start making out, he shifts his eyes to his clasped hands between his knees.

Dean leans his knee against Cas’, a warm spot connecting them.

Cas looks up at him, “Shame, huh?”

Dean had been looking at the sky, but turns his head to face Cas, “What is?”

Castiel nods towards the couple sucking faces, “We tried so hard and didn’t get anywhere.”

A puffy laugh escapes Dean’s lips when he sees the couple and then he meets Cas’ eyes again, “Cas, I’ve been trying for _you_ , you dumbass!”

It might be the alcohol but the statement shifts Castiel’s world on its axis for a moment, “You were what now?”

Dean keeps grinning, not shy to admit his crush, “Not at first, maybe, but for a while now,” he shrugs, “You’re cute.”

People start disappearing around them, going back inside for the next movie, but Castiel is rooted to his place, eyes wide in surprise. “You were- You were trying for _me_?”

Dean tugs his lower lip in between his teeth and nods, “Mhmm.”

“But- but you’re… _why_?” Castiel stutters.

Dean rolls his eyes, “You’re _cute_ , okay? Stop freaking out.”

Castiel takes a calming breath and wipes his hands on the flannel covering his knees, “So uh,” he starts, “Do you wanna make out then?”

As it turns out, Castiel needn't worry about spoilers for the sequels.

**Author's Note:**

> I realize the form is usually 5 + 1 but I forgot a section lol
> 
> Also just a quick thanks to Staunchlyblue. Been too busy to pursue any writing ideas or inspirations lately, so it was nice to have a topic. I'd be up for doing it again! And this is long overdue due to technical issues, being broke and aforementioned busy-ness, heh.


End file.
